Harry

Hi, my name is Harry, and I am seventeen years old. I am a senior in high school in Brooklyn, where I was born and raised. I am half Italian and the rest German and Lithuanian.

I am interested in both viewing and creating art. Making art allows me to express myself and experiment with color and creation. I try to look at how artists have worked in the past, and use it to mold my own work. Mostly, I work two-dimensionally, using acrylic and watercolor, but I am beginning to explore three-dimensional sculptural works. I like to create abstractions of humans and animals.

Living in New York City has exposed me to a wide range of art, liberal viewpoints, and the great beauty that this city has to offer. From its many cultural institutions and towering skyscrapers, to the benches of Washington Square Park, New York has it all. Every time I go into Manhattan, the architecture, people, and culture mesmerize me. I make weekly trips to walk around SoHo and the West Village. I am also a big fan of Alanis Morissette; she is a great singer who puts a lot of feeling into her music.

Youth Insights attracted me because it challenges me not only as an art lover, but also as a student of art. It allows me to have a forum for my ideas on art and allows me to express that view with other people who appreciate art as much as I do. Through working with younger and older people and people my own age, I gain knowledge and experience interacting with various viewpoints.

My favorite American artists are Louise Nevelson and Jackson Pollock. Nevelson's use of uniform color and composition speaks for itself. The objects in her sculptures and the focus of her prints invoke a lot of feeling and thought. Pollock is a master of color, and his spontaneous use of it creates a canvas that's vivid and beautiful. His work steals the art lover's eye and imagination. I am also interested in the photography of Nan Goldin, who captures the underground life of Boston and New York from the 1970s to the 1990s.

I will be attending college in the fall of 2001, majoring in art history. I hope to work as a curator in a major museum in New York City. I intend to continue to work on my own art and hopefully have it displayed someday in galleries or in the Whitney Museum.